General Motors Company (GM) is recalling around 780,000 cars due to faulty ignition

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is recalling around 780,000 older model compact cars in North America due to faulty ignition switches that can shut off the engines without warning and could lead to car crashes. GM said that 6 people died in 22 crashes linked to this problem in Chevrolet Cobalts from 2005 through 2007 and Pontiac G5s from 2007. Heavy key rings or jarring from rough road conditions can move the ignition switch out of the run position, which cuts off the engine and electrical power said GM in a statement and through documents released today through the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The air bags may not work if there is a crash due to the faulty ignition. GM said that 6 people were killed in five front-end crashes, which all happened off-road and at high speeds. In each of these cases, the ignition switch moved out of the run position said GM spokesman Alan Adler. Adler added that alcohol was involved in three of the fatalities and in some cases, people were not wearing safety belts.

The timing of the recall has not been finalized and dealers will replace the ignition switch. Until this issue is fixed, GM is urging owners to remove nonessential key rings. Over 619,000 of the cars in the recall were sold in the U.S, 153,000 were sold in Canada, and 6,000 were sold in Mexico. All of the vehicles except 33,000 of them to be recalled are Cobalts.